Nah, it's just the junk they add... chlorine and fluoride Last thing I want to happen to my kyusu apart from breaking, is it absorbing this gunk! But Melbourne water is quite soft. Gonna have to save money for a super-filter...

Clay screens can break as well. Rinsing with water will likely never break a screen ... a physical object bouncing around in there could. The screens having lots of holes can have a weak spot.

I also forgot, once the leaf bits dry completely, they can be very easily broken to pieces with your finger which will dislodge them from your screen. Some pieces will fall through the spout and some will fall in the kyusu.

Yeah I just rinse and dump three times with my kyusu and that gets out the lot. If little bits of leaves get stuck in the filter.....so be it...they will dry and most likely become unstuck when I next pre-heat the pot. Then just dry with the lid off.

Nice first pot BTW. IMO the best bang for buck pot out there by a long way. Was my first pot too many years ago

Maneki Neko wrote:Nah, it's just the junk they add... chlorine and fluoride Last thing I want to happen to my kyusu apart from breaking, is it absorbing this gunk! But Melbourne water is quite soft. Gonna have to save money for a super-filter...

Chip's advice about cleaning is very good. I also use hot water from the faucet and run it through the spout. This clears the filter of any bits of leaves adhering to it after dumping the bulk of the leaves into the garbage. I have a similar Masaki kyusu. It cleans quite well as I've described. I use my finger to sweep out any remaining cluster of tea after I shake the kyusu over a receptacle to get the leaves out. Then rinse as described. I wouldn't worry about the water. Can't be worse than Bangkok tap water and it hasn't ruined my pots by cleaning them with it.

This one's indeed very affordable compared to the other Masakis I've seen. I think it's gorgeous in its soft simplicity. But what's the difference between the expensive ones and the cheaper ones? Mainly decoration or also other aspects?

This one's indeed very affordable compared to the other Masakis I've seen. I think it's gorgeous in its soft simplicity. But what's the difference between the expensive ones and the cheaper ones? Mainly decoration or also other aspects?

I believe those cheaper ones are only half hand made. The fit and finish is also in a different league on the more expensive pieces. They are a touch cheaper also due to lack of decoration but as you can see from yuuki-cha the difference is only about $10 from the next one up which is decorate. Someone with more knowledge can chime in and outline the differences better.

My first pot is with a friend and still going strong. Its a superb pot. There's simply nothing even close for the price and clay.

The pot Blairswhitaker posted is the brother of my Shigaraki which was purchased from here

Maneki Neko wrote:Blairswhitaker, your pot looks exactly the same as mine except that it has a slightly different surface colour or texture. Is yours also the Hiramaru?

this is a tachi masaki shigaraki pot, from Hojo tea. It is made of a special clay (you can read all about it on hojo's web site). It's actually a bit smaller than your hiramaru at 180ml and it also is fully handmade.